As the 2012 season gears up to an end, we all will remember how wonderful & exciting this season has been. 1 of the best seasons ever in F1. There were 8 different winners & some outstanding drives & consistent drives.

As the 2012 season gears up to an end, we all will remember how wonderful & exciting this season has been. 1 of the best seasons ever in F1. There were 8 different winners & some outstanding drives & consistent drives.

1.Raikkonen - Stunning comeback season to put it simply2.Hamilton - I knew he was quick but this year really showed what he can do3.Vettel - This year he has proved (IMO) that it's not just his car that is quick, he is too4.Maldonado - Bringing back Williams, plus the guy shows crazy quali speed5.Perez/Alonso - Bringing Sauber back to the podium a few times and his race pace seems to be blistering at times/Alonso because he has dragged round that Ferrari all year long, being consistent all the way.

Note, I could not decide where to fit in Alonso here so I just put him at 5, although I do think he is higher up.

To watch on-board footage of the Ferraris going into Australia, you knew it was going to be a tough year. The disparity between himself and Massa... staggering. And that was all down to the difficulty of the car, despite it being pretty quick. Once Ferrari got a few things sorted out during the mid-season, Alonso really took off and competed but the car's speed has fallen to the way side as Red Bull has taken flight. His two DNFs came on the first lap, but given his qualifying positions, he was looking for big time points yet again.

1b. Hamilton

The season of "what if" for Lewis. He was incredibly sharp even as his team wasn't - a contrast to 2011 where the roles were reversed. Let down many times by the team/car yet made very few errors for someone so well lit by the public spotlight of attention. Had a small downturn in performance about a 1/3-1/2 way in the season, but was still ahead of his teammate.

1c. Vettel

A few errors early on - Malaysia in particular - but has really made good after the first 1/4 season with very little issues of his doing. Qualifying probably wasn't as nice to watch from him as it was for Alonso but once Red Bull got the car sorted, he's been 100% committed. It's back to Vettel being Vettel again. Super hard to put numbers on the top 3 here though. They've all been terrific.

4. Raikkonen

Clearly lacking a Red Bull or McLaren in outright speed, but continued to pick big points up and stay ahead of drivers from both teams by not having "off" weekends with the exception of Monaco. He seems to not quite have the speed the top 3 do, but his experience and talent for keeping out of trouble by knowing which battles to fight still puts him above 20+ other drivers despite two years away from Formula 1 and single seaters in particular. Missed out on a few opportunities but continues to improve his speed despite the car disadvantage as the season progresses which shows he's still not to 100% just yet the way Alonso, Vettel, and Hamilton are.

5. Perez

More of a "Surprise Star of the Season" pick than anything as I think I'd still place Button here, but Button is expected results given his experience and provided car. Sergio did a few remarkable races this year and certainly showed he has the passion of Alonso when it comes to succeeding. A few ups and downs, but what young F1 ace doesn't have those especially at the midfield teams?

I agree with almost every word with the possible exception of Perez. His dip in form since signing for McLaren has been quite noticeable so I may be tempted to switch him with Hulkenburg at #5, but I wouldn't get into a bar fight about it

*It's hard to choose #5. It could easily go to Perez, Kobayashi, Hulkenberg, Roserg, or Button/Webber

Agree, the top four are the same for most with just the order being a preference. For 5 I would have said Perez, until he signed for McLaren. It's not my distaste for the team, but since the annoucement he's been truly awful compares to before. We'll see next year. Grosjean, stunning start, mediocre finish and too many crashes. Rosberg seemed to much a one hit wonder, Maldonado a multi-hit wonder with just one win.

If I went on results, either Button or Webber. If I went by the final 7-8 races, Massa has been a huge turnaround, great stuff to prove many of us doubters wrong. More in 2013 please (before you leave). So it comes to the Hulk, Di Resta, Kobayashi or Schumacher. I think I'll plump for Hulk though as he's moving to Sauber (should be a step up) and responded well to the annoucement, not getting sidetracked.

_________________"We can not drive slower, just to make the races more exciting." Alain Prost

Nobody else has put a whole season together. Perez has been good in pathces Hulkenberg has come on strong but was trailing Di Resta for half the year. Webber has been slow compared to Vettel since the half way point.If pushed I will go with:

1. Hamilton2. Alonso (Very close between these two. When I put Hamilton at the top, I'm really nitpicking)3. Vettel (Not to say he doesn't deserve the WDC. He's an extremely deserving WDC - But the other two are even more so IMO)4. Raikkonen5. Webber

For me it's a non-debate. They are easily the top 5 guys this year. It's easy to say 'But they're just the guys in the fast cars!'. If you look at the drivers in the midfield cars, nobody has really put it all together this season. Yes, I know Webber had that bad run, but for the rest of the year he's been pretty closely matched with Vettel, arguably the best driver in F1, and he deserves credit for that.

From the midfield...You have Rosberg who has been pretty evenly matched with Schumacher when Schumi hasn't been suffering misfortune, and Schumi's had a couple brain fades/some bad races himself. I would have put Perez in the top 5 before the last few races, because he showed the pace to win and suffered misfortune at several races. But he has shown in the last few races that he is still raw. Koba has been pretty strong, but has made some errors and hasn't had as many standout performances as Perez.Hulkenberg has seriously impressed me in the last few races (ever since I made that thread about him, he's made me look stupid) but he did very little of note before Korea. di Resta has had a couple standout performances in Bahrain and Singapore, but has otherwise been the definition of average. No way can Maldonado be top 5 given that long run of erratic and sometimes dangerous driving after his win in Spain. Senna is arguably a candidate for worst driver of the season. Ricciardo is a bit like Hulkenberg in that he has been awesome in the last few races, but his performance throughout the season is harder to analyse because he's been in a pretty poor car. Vergne seems to lack Ricciardo's raw pace.

_________________I don't follow F1 so I don't know what I'm talking about

One off results don't really impress me that much. In fact they make me wonder about the true pace of the car and what could be possible with a more consistent driver behind the wheel. Anyway i've been impressed with Hulkenburg this season. Consistent, good speed, good attitude, aggressive but still very professional in wheel to wheel situations.

1. Hamilton2. Alonso (Very close between these two. When I put Hamilton at the top, I'm really nitpicking)3. Vettel (Not to say he doesn't deserve the WDC. He's an extremely deserving WDC - But the other two are even more so IMO)4. Raikkonen5. Webber

For me it's a non-debate. They are easily the top 5 guys this year. It's easy to say 'But they're just the guys in the fast cars!'. If you look at the drivers in the midfield cars, nobody has really put it all together this season. Yes, I know Webber had that bad run, but for the rest of the year he's been pretty closely matched with Vettel, arguably the best driver in F1, and he deserves credit for that.

From the midfield...You have Rosberg who has been pretty evenly matched with Schumacher when Schumi hasn't been suffering misfortune, and Schumi's had a couple brain fades/some bad races himself. I would have put Perez in the top 5 before the last few races, because he showed the pace to win and suffered misfortune at several races. But he has shown in the last few races that he is still raw. Koba has been pretty strong, but has made some errors and hasn't had as many standout performances as Perez.Hulkenberg has seriously impressed me in the last few races (ever since I made that thread about him, he's made me look stupid) but he did very little of note before Korea. di Resta has had a couple standout performances in Bahrain and Singapore, but has otherwise been the definition of average. No way can Maldonado be top 5 given that long run of erratic and sometimes dangerous driving after his win in Spain. Senna is arguably a candidate for worst driver of the season. Ricciardo is a bit like Hulkenberg in that he has been awesome in the last few races, but his performance throughout the season is harder to analyse because he's been in a pretty poor car. Vergne seems to lack Ricciardo's raw pace.

Agree with most of what you have said apart from Webber. He's put in some good performances but also far too many shockers to be considered one of the best this year. He started the season as Mr Consistent but then turned out to be anything but

Not an Alonso fan but has drove brilliantly this season with arguably the 3rd fastest car. Honourable mention to Massa as started to regain some form and must be difficult when team is geared towards your teammate

Although he cashed in on the strongest car in the last few races, its easy to forget he has not had the strongest car for most of the year. Arguably, he has not needed help from his teammate, Has just got on and done his job. His abu dhabi drive needs credit.

2. Lewis

Many people seem to think hamilton has driven his best this season, but he has also had the car that has been the fastest most of the season. Lewis has cut out the mental frailties of last year and driven well this year and would be in right championship contention if not for singapore and abu dhabi where the car stopped whilst he was comfortably leading the race. His driving in Austin against a rampaging red bull was supreme.

3. Kimi

The one reason I cannot put him No 1 or 2 was he just lacked that bit of aggression this year I felt. But that approach got him so many points and if you notice, he is always the one that yields at the starts. Otherwise there was lots of consistency and balls out overtaking and fair racing, generally great to have kimi back in the sport.

4. Fernando

Fernando's driving has been over-rated this year and Massa is showing it up in the last few races. The good part about this man though is he makes very very few mistakes and is aggressive at the start where he gains places. But over-driving the car I never believed in. I gave him 4 only because he is the only one in the top 4 to enjoy a clear No 1 status right from the beginning of the year and despite that massa showed him up. If his second half of the season was as good as the first half, he would have been No 1 for me.

5. I dont know. Nobody else really stand out to me, have not been following anybody that closely.

Although he cashed in on the strongest car in the last few races, its easy to forget he has not had the strongest car for most of the year. Arguably, he has not needed help from his teammate, Has just got on and done his job. His abu dhabi drive needs credit.

2. Lewis

Many people seem to think hamilton has driven his best this season, but he has also had the car that has been the fastest most of the season. Lewis has cut out the mental frailties of last year and driven well this year and would be in right championship contention if not for singapore and abu dhabi where the car stopped whilst he was comfortably leading the race. His driving in Austin against a rampaging red bull was supreme.

3. Kimi

The one reason I cannot put him No 1 or 2 was he just lacked that bit of aggression this year I felt. But that approach got him so many points and if you notice, he is always the one that yields at the starts. Otherwise there was lots of consistency and balls out overtaking and fair racing, generally great to have kimi back in the sport.

4. Fernando

Fernando's driving has been over-rated this year and Massa is showing it up in the last few races. The good part about this man though is he makes very very few mistakes and is aggressive at the start where he gains places. But over-driving the car I never believed in. I gave him 4 only because he is the only one in the top 4 to enjoy a clear No 1 status right from the beginning of the year and despite that massa showed him up. If his second half of the season was as good as the first half, he would have been No 1 for me.

5. I dont know. Nobody else really stand out to me, have not been following anybody that closely.

You pretty much just took my list word for word there.

Its hard to place the top 3 of these for me though, I believe Kimi would have won the WDC in any better car than the Lotus, he has had a great consistent year (consistency wins championships). As for Lewis, if he had a more reliable car and a bit more luck I think the title fight would be between him and Vettel right now. Vettel as usual has made the most of his situation and even with the cars reliability issues and lack of pace in the first half of the season has managed to do what needs to be done when it needs to be done to be in a position for the WDC. All 3 of them are so close this year I wouldnt really mind any order for them, although the above order was what I was thinking.

As for Alonso, I know he has tons of fans on here, but the car has consistently been good (not best but good) this year and he now being shown up by Massa shows he is lacking the pace that everyone believed he had. It proves he was not essentially driving a HRT to victory. Massa having a very poor 3/4 of the season made Alonso look better than he was, and the last few races with Massa eclipsing Alonso shows the car is not as bad as Piquet would like to believe. Alonso does make excellent starts and has a great ability to pass while keeping the car intact, he definitely has shown a lot of skill this year, but I wouldnt put him in the same class as the top 3.

As for a #5. I would go with Kamui. He was not as consistent as the top 4, but of the rest of the field, I feel with a proper car he would be the best of the rest. He has the ability to make some spectacular drives when he has a half way decent car capable of it and is tons of fun to watch.

1. Sebastian Vettel2. Kimi Raikkonen3. Lewis Hamilton4. Fernando Alonso5. Nico Hulkenberg Vettel leads in my book and has shown he is a real racer, i would love to see him with a cigarette in his mouth and a can of beer in his hand, he Mark Webber and Kimi Raikkonen have real personalities!Raikkonen, what a great driver!Hamilton has shown much more maturity this year in spite of the XXX management team.Alonso, dispite the constant sniping and the my car is fairy cakes every other car is better syndrome has driven very well, outstandingly at times especially the starts (assuming the car is peaky) I would like to see him win more by himself though. Every other driver is racing Alonso, Massa, Stefano Demoniccauliflour and half of the FIA it seems!

Bakerking31 wrote:

As for Alonso, I know he has tons of fans on here, but the car has consistently been good (not best but good) this year and he now being shown up by Massa shows he is lacking the pace that everyone believed he had. It proves he was not essentially driving a HRT to victory. Massa having a very poor 3/4 of the season made Alonso look better than he was, and the last few races with Massa eclipsing Alonso shows the car is not as bad as Piquet would like to believe. Alonso does make excellent starts and has a great ability to pass while keeping the car intact, he definitely has shown a lot of skill this year, but I wouldnt put him in the same class as the top 3..

1. Hamilton2. Alonso (Very close between these two. When I put Hamilton at the top, I'm really nitpicking)3. Vettel (Not to say he doesn't deserve the WDC. He's an extremely deserving WDC - But the other two are even more so IMO)4. Raikkonen5. Webber

For me it's a non-debate. They are easily the top 5 guys this year. It's easy to say 'But they're just the guys in the fast cars!'. If you look at the drivers in the midfield cars, nobody has really put it all together this season. Yes, I know Webber had that bad run, but for the rest of the year he's been pretty closely matched with Vettel, arguably the best driver in F1, and he deserves credit for that.

From the midfield...You have Rosberg who has been pretty evenly matched with Schumacher when Schumi hasn't been suffering misfortune, and Schumi's had a couple brain fades/some bad races himself. I would have put Perez in the top 5 before the last few races, because he showed the pace to win and suffered misfortune at several races. But he has shown in the last few races that he is still raw. Koba has been pretty strong, but has made some errors and hasn't had as many standout performances as Perez.Hulkenberg has seriously impressed me in the last few races (ever since I made that thread about him, he's made me look stupid) but he did very little of note before Korea. di Resta has had a couple standout performances in Bahrain and Singapore, but has otherwise been the definition of average. No way can Maldonado be top 5 given that long run of erratic and sometimes dangerous driving after his win in Spain. Senna is arguably a candidate for worst driver of the season. Ricciardo is a bit like Hulkenberg in that he has been awesome in the last few races, but his performance throughout the season is harder to analyse because he's been in a pretty poor car. Vergne seems to lack Ricciardo's raw pace.

Agree with most of what you have said apart from Webber. He's put in some good performances but also far too many shockers to be considered one of the best this year. He started the season as Mr Consistent but then turned out to be anything but

I completely agree with you regarding Webber. Throughout his run of good form earlier in the season I was waiting for him to collapse, but by Silverstone I'd given up and basically decided to give him the respect he deserved. IMO Webber's always been that kind of driver who shows occasional class but has never sustained it over a long period, so I was surprised when he was looking better than Vettel throughout the early portion of the season.Thing is, who has been better than Webber this season aside from the top four? Perez? I'd say no, he's had a similar season to Webber and (as a Perez fan) I value Webber's early comparison to Vettel higher than Perez's body of work this season. For me, the only other top 5 candidate is Hulkenberg. While he has been consistent the whole year, he didn't do anything particularly special before Korea IMO, though he's been absolutely awesome since.

_________________I don't follow F1 so I don't know what I'm talking about